The Associated Collegiate Press is the oldest and largest college newspaper membership organization. It critiques and judges print and web publications, holds educational conventions, provides educational resources to its members, and more. The Pacemaker is the premier award they distribute, with categories for newspapers, newspaper websites (the category we received an award in), magazines, and yearbooks. Only a few publications are selected for the prestigious award each year.

The Weekly’s website, along with those of other entrants, was judged last February and March. Sites were put into categories based on the enrollment at the college they serve. Categories are: 5,000 or fewer (our category), 5,001-10,000, 10,001-20,000, and more than 20,000. The sites were then judged based on design, ease of navigation, writing and editing, graphics and interactivity. Many months later, it’s exciting to see The Weekly on the list, and to have a list of links to other college newspaper websites who are doing big things.

It was an honor to serve as The Weekly’s web editor last year and the year before. I am deeply appreciative of the hard work of all of The Weekly’s writers, editors, and other staffers, who helped make the publication what it is.

This morning The Weekly launched an updated design. A few weeks ago we decided that it was time to update the color scheme and improve the site’s feel. This is probably the biggest design change we have made since September 2009.

Utilizing the code from our most recent design, I worked with our Editor-in-Chief to develop a new color palate. I also worked to better organize the stories on the front page and remove some of the boxes.

I hope you like the new design. Feel free to let us know what you think.

It was interesting. There were a lot of sessions on new media, relevant to what I do.

At the conference, publications were given the opportunity to submit their work in a convention contest. I am excited to note that The Weekly received a fifth place award for its website. See the complete contest results.

Thank you to everyone who has submitted story ideas, commented on the site, written articles, or otherwise helped in the process. We appreciate your contributions.